Burglar trap



l May 5, 1953 R. H. BURNELL BURGLAR TRAP FiledSept. 4, 1951 INV ENTOR Z3 Q .Z Robert H BzJrrUsZZ BY D ATTORNEYS Patented May 5, 1953 UNITED STATES PTENT FFICE This invention relates broadly to the art of burglar traps and in its more specific aspects it relates to means for disabling a burglar or bandit and also holding and detaining him in completely inactive position until he may be subdued and is taken into custody; and the nature and objects of the invention will be readily recognized and understood by those skilled in the arts to which it relates in the light of the following explanation and detailed description of the aocompanying drawings illustrating what I at present believe to be the preferred embodiments and mechanical expressions of my invention from among various other forms, arrangements, combinations and constructions, of which the invention is capable Within the spirit and scope thereof.

In banks, stores and similar establishments Where money, stock or other valuables are kept Which are often subject to hold-up and theft by bandits it is customary for the Workers or custodians in such establishments to be armed or provided with other protective means for frustrating an attempted robbery. It has developed through actual experience that conventional means are often not fully successful. For instance, the arming of bank employees, clerks in stores and the like often results in unnecessary deaths or vvoundings in an attempted robbery. In the first plate, such employees are not usually trained in the use of firearms and under the natural nervous tensions and excitement, incident to such occasions, Wild shooting ensues and bystanders or customers may be killed or injured even though the bandit or bandits may be captured. Too often, however, in these serious and rapidly moving situations, the bandits escape either Wounded or unharmed even though bystanders may be hurt.

Other protective methods, such as tear gas pistols and the like have been resorted to by establishments of the character of banks, stores, Warehouses and the like housing valuables. While these may be successful in frustrating the robbery they do not incapacitate the bandits and in many instances they are able to escape.

As far as I am aware all protective devices' of the general character of this invention rely on arming an employee which overlooks the human nervous factor in tense situations encountered in an armed hold-up, or rely on various mechanical means which do not incapacitate and hold the bandit until the police or others arrive Who are able to take the bandit or bandits into custody.

The prior art devices of which I have knowl- 1 Claim. (Cl. 10g-3) edge provide no means for holding the bandit as Well as incapacitating him. It Will be appreciated that a burglar protective device which merelyk momentarily incapacitates a bandit leaves much to be desired, for obviously he may probably escape after such momentary incapacitation, and While the actual theft may have been prevented the robber may not be apprehended.

It has been my purpose to overcome these defects in prior art protective devices and I have designed a mechanism'vvhich knocks over the bandit and While incapacitating him in this manner also functions to lock or attach him to it so that it is impossible for him to escape and time is given for armed aid to arrive and apprehend him. My device in its operation causes no serious injury to the thief, but is positive in its incapacitating and detaining action.

In designing this burglar trap, having the dual functions of incapacitating and detaining the bandit, I have provided a mechanism which may be actuated With the greatest of ease by a bank or store employee, no skill` is required and even l one under great nervous tension can easily cause it to function.

The burglar trap of this invention in its incapaoitating operation knocks the bandit over in a positive physical upsetting action. It Will be appreciated that this upset will not only cause the bandit to lose his aim if he is armed, but in most cases will be of such a startling nature that the bandit will not even fire.

It has also been my purpose to provide a mechanism which is completely hidden from view from the exterior of a counter, door or the like so that one not knowing it Was installed would be unable to visually detect its presence. Hence, the element of surprise, as vvell as physical upset, would also confront the bandit.

An employee confronted With a bandit may actuate the burglar trap Without making any physical movement which may be seen by the bandit. To actuate one form of the device it is only necessary to engage a lever With the knee, and when the employee is behind a counter it Will be apparent that such slight movement will not be visible.

My burglar trap mechanism is economical to build and install and may be positioned under a counter or the like where it is out of the Way.

With the foregoing general objects, features and results in view, as Well as certain others which will be apparent from the following explanation, the invention consists in certain novel features in design, construction, mounting and le combination of elements, as will be more fully and particularly referred to and specified hereinafter.

Referring to the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my invention installed beneath a counter, with parts of the latter being broken away.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the invention.

Fig. 3 is a view taken on line 3-.3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. a is a View taken on line 6 4- of Fig. 2.

Referring to the accompanying drawings wherein I have used the numeral l to designate a supporting tripod upon which the striking and detaining bar is pivotally mounted, as will be fully explained hereinafter: This tripod is preferably constructed of metal and may'y be bolted to the floor or other supporting surface. as. at,` Si. The tripod i is provided with a head and a flat bearing surface 1 rests thereon. A pivot. pin $3 is threaded or otherwise fixed to the head E: to project. upwardly therefrom through and beyond the plate or bearing surface 1. The end of pin .fi isl threaded and receives a nut IAG thereon.

I provide an elongated striking bar Il which consists of a flat metal bar of suincient gauge to be substantially rigid and i-nfiexi-hle when functioning. A crank arm |3- extends from one end of the striking bar at. approximately a fortyiive degree angle, and I form an aperture i5 adiacent the end of. the crank arm.

The striking bar I i and its. associated crank t3 is pivotally mounted on. pivot pin S for horizontal swinging thereabout into and out of operative bandit striking and:v detaining position. At spaced points along the striking bar li I position barbs or hooks l5 which are fixed in any suitable manner as: by screws l1 to the. striking bar. The hooks l5 are pointed as at IS and this pointed portion extends beyond the leading edge 2i. of the, striking bar and is directed in the direction of swing; of the striking bar in its. striking or operativev stroke. The hooks or barbs. 1.5. are. preferably xedagainst swinging relative to the striking bar ll.

My device. includes. a. further strong metallic tripod Z3. which I. term a. latching tripod. The tripod 23 is securedl to a door or other'. support,- ing surface by bolts 25. or. by any other convenlent. means, and4 is fixed thereto.- rearwardly of the. tripod I.. The. tripod 2.3 includes ahead 21 from which a pair of vertically spaced latching members 2S project forwardly toward the striking bar Il. A bearing bracket 3i projects upwardly from head 21 andthe bracket carries a pin 33. extendingl through the two spaced elements of the bracket. I provide a control element 35 which is pivotally supported on the pin 33 for vertical swinging movement thereon. The rear end of control element or lever 35 has a lateral extension 31 extending therefrom which is adapted to be contacted by the knee of the operator for actuation of the. lever in a manner to be explained. Adjacent the opposite or forward end. the lever is bent over or twisted as at. 39, and formed with a fork-like portion il which extends over the vertically spaced latching members 2G.

A latch bolt 43 having a head i5 is adapted to loosely extend through the fork 4I and through apertures. formed adjacent the. forward ends of the vertically spaced latching members 29. The striking bar is releasably maintained in inoperative position between the forked ends il and is maintained therein by the. latchbolt 4.3.

I provide spring means for swinging the striking and detaining bar H outwardly into operative position when it is released by the latching mechanism just described. Such means comprises a contractile spring 41 being formed to provide hooks t9 and 5|, one at each end thereof. The spring 41 is stretched under tension to extend between the outer end of crank arm I3 and a lateral extension 53 projecting from the. tripod head 21. The. hook 49 is inserted in the aperture in the crank arm and hook 5i is inserted in an aperture provided adjacent the end of lateral extension 53.

In order to maintain the striking bar releasably maintained in inoperative position between the. Iatching members 2G and behind the bolt 23 and to prevent the accidental lifting of pin 43 from its position extending through members Z9, I provide a contractile spring 55 provided with hooks 51 and i, one on each end thereof.. The hook 51 is inserted in an aperture, provided adjacent the rear end of controlling lever 35 and the hook 5.9 is inserted in an eye or the like. Si which is, fixed to the underside of theA top surface G3 of a counter, shelf, table or the like behind which the employee works in performing his duties. It will be appreciated that spring maintains the rear end of lever in raised position thereby lowering the forward forked end thereof so that latch.- ing bolt i3 will not be lifted to permit swinging of the striking bar into operative position.

In the drawings illustrating. one example of my invention, I have disclosed one arrangement in which mechanism may be used. The apparatus may be fixed to the floor so it is positioned under the horizontal shelf portion 63. of a counter having the usual vertical apron portion 651 extending from thev floor upwardly to and supporting the shelf G3. The apron is provided with a horizontally extending slot 61 aligned with the striking bar I! and this slot may be covered with a relatively thin material GQ which may be, adhesively secured to the vertical apron, or may be xed thereto in any other suitable manner. The closure strip 69 is preferably formed. as to color and general appearance in simulation of the appearance of the exterior surface of the apron so that the slot in the apron will not be noticeable.

With the apparatus installed and set up behind a counter or the like as illustrated in Fig. l of the drawings, the striking bar I i is posi'- tioned between latching members 29 and held therein by the bolt 3. As an extra safeguard against accidental removal of bolt 43, I may provide a pin 1i which may extend through the bolt adjacent the end thereof. The pin preferably extends through the holt and projects radically therefrom at diametrically opposed positions. The pin is preferably of relatively small diameter so that it may be easiiy broken in the operation of the device. It will be seen that the pin will keep the bolt from being accidentally lifted through the aperture in the lower latcliingv member 29.

In the. event of an attempted. robbery the employee brings this knee to bear against member 31 pressing downwardly on it against the action of spring 55 to rock the lever 35 on pivot pin 33 to thereby raise the forked end of the lever whereupon. the bolt will be lifted free of latching members 2S. Under the action. of. spring 4 1 the striking bar will swing outwardly breaking through closure member. 6.9 and swinging through slot 5'! in the apron of the counter, and will describe an arc in front of the counter. The bar will strike the legs of the bandit knocking him down and the hooks I5 will hook securely into the clothing of the bandit to hold and detain him until he is apprehended and in custody. When the lever 35 is rocked the vertical forces acting on bolt 43 will be suiiicient to break pin ll so that the bolt may be raised sufficiently to permit operative forward swinging of the striking bar.

In certain instances it may be desirable to provide hand means auxiliary to the knee means for operating controlling lever 35. One of such hand controlling means may include a line 'F3 extending through an opening 15 in shelf 63. The line or rope l may extend upwardly and over a pulley (not shown) so that the rope end is accessible to the employee for pulling. The line extends downwardly and about a pulley li which may be fastened to the floor and from the pulley the line extends upwardly as at "J8 and is fastened to lever 35 as at 19. It will be recognized that the employee by pulling on the rope above the shelf will cause rocking of lever 35 to effect release of the striking bar. This auxiliary measure may be used with the knee control measure, or it may be used alone.

The mechanism or this invention provides a simple apparatus, with few parts to get out of order, by which an attempted burglary may be frustrated and the bandit incapacitated and detained for apprehension.

I claim:

A burglar trap including a striking bar for striking and felling a person attempting a robbery, said striking bar having a crank arm extending from one end thereof, a support for the striking bar, said striking bar pivotally mounted on said support adjacent the end of the striking bar having the crank arm extending therefrom and the striking bar being horizontally swingable about said support, latch means for releasably maintaining said striking bar against swinging movement, a support operatively mountmg said latching means and positioned in spaced relation to said rst named support and in position adjacent to but inwardly of the other end of said striking bar, a pair of vertically spaced latching members extending forwardly from said support and having aligned apertures therein adjacent the forward ends thereof, the striking bar in inoperative position adapted to be received between said latching members, a bolt extending through the apertures in the latching members to maintain the striking bar therebetween, and a manually operable control member rockably mounted on said latching means support and connected with said bolt and operable to lift the same out of the apertures in the latching members for releasing the striking bar, and spring means releasably maintaining the control inember in depressed non-bolt lifting position, and means constantly urging said striking bar into its striking stroke, said means including a spring xed at one end to said crank arm and stretched and under tension and attached at its other end to said latching means support.

ROBERT HENRY BURNELL.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Date Burch Mar. 9, 1937 

